Wed Night AA Riverside Men's Group

Good evening, We come, at last, to the end of the book. This week we close out by reading Chapter 9 - Becoming Happy. I've had a copy of this book for a while now, a few months before we began reading it here. To be honest, when I first got the book I skipped every other chapter and read this chapter first. Somehow, I don't think I'm unique in wanting to skip the BS and just get to the "Being Happy" part!!  Although, now that I think about, the name of the chapter is  Becoming  Happy  not   Being  Happy. There is definitely a process at work here. On page 132 of The Big Book it says:  "We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free."  However, it also says in the first two lines of How it Works:   " Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program..." When I put those two facts together I realize tha...

Hello everyone, So we're almost done with the book. This week we'll be reading Chapt 8 - Finding Joy in Life - p165-182. As it so happens, while I was driving back from puriscal today I put on a speaker tape with Sandy B who happened to be talking about the exact same thing!! Now was that Odd or is that God? It's actually a great talk he gives at a group in Arlington Texas (you can find it through iTunes). To sum up the gist of the share in my own words: To get "sober" is easy... Just don't drink!! That's it... If you don't drink, you don't get drunk. (Bet a lot of you didn't know that).   But the overwhelming experience in AA is that to just "not drink" actually  really  sucks!! We'd give it a shot and say "the hell with that I'm going back out". To really  stay sober  we need to become happy, joyous and free. We must find a new thirst for living to replace the old thirst for drinking or using.  We  must  h...

Hello folks, Hope everyone has had a good weekend. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's day so stay indoors and avoid all contact with all leprechauns (except for Fred, He cool)! This week we're reading chapter 7 on Hope. Also, take note that we are reaching the end of the Being Sober and Becoming Happy book. It's time to start contemplating what comes next. Give it some thought and let me know if you have any suggestions. Regards, David t

Hello Everyone, This week we tackle Love & Romance (ie: relationship). Its interesting how he applies the traditions to the concept of relationships. I think its so important we learn how to apply our AA program to  ALL OUR AFFAIRS,  and this is a good example of how to do it. Happy 24hrs, David t. Group Feedback: Hi David....will be in out of town this week but for sure be at meeting week after...I would like to do my story....I think it would help people to get to know me a little more and maybe be of some help...in the past I have not really like to do it...it is a chapter I wanted to put behind me but Fred gave me a different perspective on.     Russ Hey Russ, That sounds good, telling your story is a key part of recovery. When we say we want to "put  something  behind us", I think what we really mean is that we want that  something  to not emotionally disturb or disrupt us. The paradox is, of course, the le...

Hello,      So this week we return to the Being Sober and Becoming Happy book for Chapter 5: Spiritual Recovery from Trauma and Abuse. Now for me personally, reading this chapter did not awaken much within me. Maybe for some it will. Others may wish to boycott this meeting *ejem... TODD*. I read the chapter and for the most part I'll classify this as part of my education as a human being. I am fortunate to have never suffered the type of abuse described in this chapter, but I may someday run into someone who has.  Even so, his advice for recovery from abuse and trauma --in a nutshell-- is:  "We need commit ourselves [to recovery], to trust God and the process of healing. We need to follow the path of truth, especially when it is painful, and trust that it will lead to freedom." (p110) That  I can  relate with. Part of practicing love & tolerance, for me, is looking past what I can't relate to & identifying with what I can. Plus.... ...

Hi everyone, Just your weekly reminder for this week's reading which is  Chapter 4 pt.II pages 89-102.   I just got done with a 3 hour long dinner and I'm feeling tired, so you get a free pass from my wit and humor this week. I know that's a bit like being sent to bed without supper, but I'm sure you'll manage!!  Best Regards, David t. 2014 Meeting Dates 01/29/14  Speaker Meeting <Shane B> 02/26/14  Speaker Meeting <Fred D> 03/26/14  Speaker Meeting <Pete T> 04/30/14  Speaker Meeting <Clive T> 05/28/14  Speaker Meeting <Todd P> 07/30/14 Speaker Meeting <Dave W> 08/27/14 Speaker Meeting <Edwin H> 09/24/14  Speaker Meeting <Larry H> 10/29/14 Speaker Meeting <David t> 11/26/14 Speaker Meeting <Roy M> -->New Book: Being Sober and Becoming Happy 01/07/15 Chapt 1 pt.I - Staying Sober - p1-20 01/14/15 Chapt 1 p...

Good evening folks, Just a quick reminder this week we will be reading part 1 of Chapter 4: Practice What Principles? It isn't an especially long chapter but because we're dealing with the steps and I believe each one has so much to offer I though it was better to break it down into 2 parts.  Therefore, we will ONLY BE READING p73-89 which pertain to steps 1 - 6.  The rest of the chapter will be for the following week. ($20 bucks says more than 1/2 read the whole thing...lol) I'd also like to inform everyone of the passing of Dave W's father in the early morning hours last Friday. If you could say a short prayer for him & his family tonight, I know they would appreciate it. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, may peace be with them. On the other hand, last Wednesday night Adam S. welcomed his baby girl Leslie into the world and became a father. Congratulations Adam!! One of the greatest parts of being a member of this AA family is  alwa...

Good evening folks, Hope everyone enjoyed Super Bowl Sunday. I congratulate both teams for putting on a show of exceptional talent! Also, I wanted to thank last week's speaker Steve W. for sharing his story with such openness and honesty. I thought it was a great exemplification of what it was like, what happened and what it is like now. This week we will be reading & discussing Chapter 3 of  Becoming Sober & Becoming Happy  on the topic of  Surrender & Trust . Surrender of our defects to a Higher Power is not the spiritless act of a defeatist; it is the intelligent act of an alcoholic who replaces fear and weakness with spiritual courage, understanding, strength, and contented sobriety .  So we "humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings." -Little Red Book , p78 Best Regards, David t. 2014 Meeting Dates 01/29/14  Speaker Meeting <Shane B> 02/26/14  Speaker Meeting <Fred D> 03/26/14  Speaker Mee...

Good afternoon,           We had another terrific discussion last week. This week we read  Chapter 2: Spirituality and Recovery.  The chapter begins by defining Spirituality in a way I thought was very good:   " I define Spirituality as the quality or nature of our relationships in three dimensions: relationships with our higher power, with ourselves and with other people."  p.40                If you go to Google and type in "What is Spirituality?", you'll get 111 MILLION entries!!! A great many of them define spirituality in terms of religious values or as something pertaining to religious belief. Here are some other ways of defining Spirituality that were interesting to me: Spirituality  is a process of personal transformation, either in accordance with traditional religious ideals, or, increasingly, oriented on subjective experience and psychological growth indep...

Good evening friends,            We had a great start last week with the new book "Being Sober and Becoming Happy" (BSBH). A lot of good discussion coming out of a book we all clearly understand is NOT AA official literature. I feel like this book provides us an opportunity to put into action our AA way of life and perspective applied to "outside the box" thinking without straying toooooooo far from the shores of AA (No... we will not be reading "The Life of Pi" anytime soon!!).         This week we will be reading the  2nd-half of chapter 1, page 21-36 . For those of you who didn't attend last week's meeting but are planing on coming this week, please read the whole chapter so you can discuss knowledgeably on the chapter.         If you still don't have a copy of the book, there are still extra copies of the book available at the meeting. Hope to see everyone soon, David t...

Hello Friends,      Welcome to the 2015 edition of the wednesday night meetings!! I hope everyone had a safe, fun & memorable new years eve!! I love it when I actually remember what I did that day!! Here's to hoping we find joy & prosperity this year!      As agreed at our last meeting, we will be reading  "Being Sober and Becoming Happy" by Dr. John A. MacDougall  who is Hazlden's Spiritual Director and a recovering addict. I know some people are quick to say "Is that Official AA Literature?"... well... No, it isn't... But so what? We've read non AA conference approved literature before, this book is largely based on the book of Alcoholics Anonymous and besides... what fun are rules if you can't break them every now and then?           If you scroll to the bottom you'll see the new reading schedule I've laid out for 2015. Some chapters had to be broken in 2 so as to not test the p...

Good evening everyone, Just thought I would remind everyone we won't be having a meeting this Wednesday or next. I fully expect to have some stray AAs knocking on my door but hey who knows... maybe people DO read these e-mails! (Imagine that) We will resume on the 7th of January reading "Being Sober & Becoming Happy". I'll send out the reading schedule before the meeting. Also, I wanted to take the opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!! A Happy Hanukkah from me to you. I wish everyone a GREAT New Year!! Yes, there is a substitute [to liquor] and it is vastly more than that. It is a fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Thus we find fellowship, and so will you.     -pg 152, Alcoholics Anonymous Thank you to everyone for creating the fellowship we crave. I am certain ne...

Good Evening, This Wednesday will be the last meeting of 2014. As we would like to start with something new next year, we will be focusing our reading this week on  Chapter 11- A Vision for You . However, if you would like to read and discuss anything on Chapter 10 - To The Employer, please feel free. Last Wednesday we had 20 people at the meeting; The only other meeting with so many people was Greg's Eulogy....  A Vision for You  I think is a fitting read to close out a year which has seen the Wednesday Night Big Book Group work through so many changes (changing meeting venues, losing our original patron)  and still grow and reach out to the still sick & suffering alcoholic. I know for myself, imaging a life without booze or mood enhancing drugs seemed lifeless, dull, and boring... Little did I know that this program would slowly but surely bring back the sound, color, and joyful conviviality I had been chasing after for so long.   Also, ...